Albeet luedemakn



(No Model.)

A. LUEDEMANN. BOTTLE STOPPEB.

003. Patented Mar. 2, 1886.

l/Vl/E/VTOR Arron/11nd ALBERT LUEDEMANN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming par: of Letters Patent No. 387,003, dated March 2,1886.

Application filed December 7, 1885 Serial No. 184,955.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT LUEDEMANN, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented an Improvement in Bottle-Stoppers, of which thefollowing is a complete specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a central section of myimproved bottle-stopper. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, and Fig. 3 abottom view of the same.

This invention has for its object to produce a stopper that cannot beremoved from its place in the mouth of a bottle. The object is toprevent the refilling of bottles containing proprietary mixtures-such assauces, perfumes, medicinal preparations, and the likeby unauthorizedpersons for fraudulent or other purposes. The manufacturers of sucharticles are in the habit of putting their names or the names of theirproducts on the bottles, and the publicis therefore liable to bedeceived into a belief that the contents of such bottles are genuine,when, in fact, they may be and often are counterfeited.

My invention consists in the main in making a tubular stopper elastic atthelower part and grooved around the circumference of its flexibleportion, so that itwill be easy to force it into abottle having an innershoulder, which enters said groove, but impossible to remove ittherefrom.

In the drawings the letter A represents a tubular bottle-stopper-thatis, one having a central longitudinal passage, to, through which theliquid contents of the bottle 13 may be ejected. This stopper is made ofwood or equivalent substance. The lower portion of this stopper is byupright incisions b I) cut into four (more or less) sections, dd, whichare integral attheir upper ends with the uncutupper part, e, of thestopper. By theincisions 12 b the lower part of the stopper is madeelastic, so that the sections dd can be crowded somewhat nearer togetheror forced a little farther apart than is their normal condition. Thewidth of the incisions b b will determine the extent to which thesections d d can be crowded toward one another. The stopper A, above thesections d d, is, by preference, embraced by an annulus, f, of cork orthe like; but this is not an essential feature of my (No model.)

invention. The lower elastic portion of the stopper-namely, the partconsisting of the movable sections d dis made with a peripheral groove,The lower ends of the sections are preferably made tapering, as shown.

The bottle 13, in which the stopper is to be used, has aninwardly-projecting shoulder or rib, h, which is adapted and intended tofit the groove g of the stopper. There may be in the bottle anothershoulder, 13, to come under the stopper, as in Fig. 2, but this is notessential.

I have stated that the lower part of the stopper is elastic. By this Imean that it should be elastic in a transverse direction only, but notin alongitudinal direction. On the 0011- trary, in the direction of itslength, the stopper should be substantially rigid or inflexible, so thatit may not, by tilting and partial elongation on one side and partialcontraction on the other, be taken out of a bottle.

The upper part, c,'of the stopper can be of suitable construction. Itmay or may not be made in accordance'with Letters Patent No. 329,920. Itmay or may not contain an inwardly-closing valve, such as is used onmany tubular stoppers.

The stopper, after the bottle B is filled, is driven into the same. Asthe tapering lower ends of the sections d d strike the rib or shoulder hthey are by such shoulder crowded together, and thus the said shoulderis passed until the groove 9 arrives in alignment there with.

Instead of tapering the lower ends of the sections d d, the upper edgeor the face of the shoulder may be inclined. The elasticity of thestopper now crowds the sections apart and locks the shoulder hin thegroove 9, as in Fig. 1. The stopper can now be neither moved nor forcedout or in. The contents of the bottle, however, can be squirted outthrough the stopper in the ordinary way. The moisture of the contents,when it permeates thefibrous stopper, will make the sections d d expandtightly against the walls of the bottle, and hold it the more firmly.

When the bottle has been emptied through this stopper, it cannotpractically be refilled, because the passage a in the stopper is toosmall for that purpose, and because no provision exists for the escapeof air. If a valve is used on the stopper-such as the well-knownball-valve the filling of the bottle through the stopper will beabsolutely impossible; hence any one desiring to use the bottle againwill be unable to do so in such a manner as to make the same appear tohave been filled and put up by the party who originally had the samefilled and put up.

I desire it understood that, in my opinion, a groove in the bottle andrib on the stopper would be equivalent to the rib h and groove I do notclaim a solid stopper having incisions in its lower part, nor a tubularstopper having springs attached to it for holding it in a bottle. Thesprings are apt to contaminate the contents of the bottle.

I claim- 1. The bottle-stopper A, having longitudt' nal central passage,a, and upright incisions b 23

